Message from the Chief Executive

Adj Assoc Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive, MN Health

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the graduation ceremony for our Deadly Start students. The event was a lovely celebration of what the students have achieved. The Minister for Health has shown great support for the Deadly Start program and came along to present the students, including Lilli-Jade (pictured), with their certificates.

Deadly Start is one of the ways we are building our future health workforce and improving health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s a program I’m proud to see expanding and I’m very pleased that the majority of graduates are choosing to continue employment with Metro North in some way. Congratulations to all the graduates.

Deadly Start program student Lilli-Jade with the Minister for Health

Congratulations also to Caboolture Hospital School Based Trainee Matthew Siver, who recently won the 2022 Queensland Training Awards School Based Trainee of the Year Award after also winning the North Coast Region award. Matthew will soon be heading to Adelaide for the national awards. Good luck! Matthew is a Year 12 student at St Columban’s College. He wants to study paramedicine after leaving school, so the hands-on experience he has gained at Caboolture Hospital will certainly be a great start to an exciting career ahead.

Last week the Stryker research and development lab opened in Block 7 at Herston Health Precinct, further enhancing the precinct’s capabilities as a knowledge and innovation hub. This partnership will allow for closer collaboration between clinicians, researchers and industry.

Tomorrow marks the start of National Safe Work Month. As healthcare providers, our services are essential and our people are precious. The pandemic has heightened our awareness of safety such as the importance of hand hygiene, but we also need to consider our ongoing physical and psychological safety at work and at other times in our lives. Queensland Health is offering a series of webinars throughout Safe Work Month to support and educate staff at all levels on a wide range of work health, safety and wellbeing topics.

Over the next month, the Chief Operating Officer Jane Hancock and I will be travelling around Metro North for a series of listening posts. These are informal opportunities where Jane and I will be available in person for staff and volunteers who would like to have a chat about your thoughts, reflections and suggestions. I am looking forward to meeting with you and hearing your feedback and ideas. Specific locations will be promoted through your local bulletins.

A word on leadership:

“The importance of leadership has increased exponentially since the onset of COVID-19. Leaders have always been explicitly accountable for the direction and delivery of work. But leaders’ accountabilities are much more expansive than this. They are expected to be mental health counsellors, expert negotiators, and cheerleaders, and they must often perform these roles through the medium of a computer screen.

“When we think about what we need from leaders in these new environments, it’s the same things we’ve always needed, they’ve just become more important. Leaders need to be authentic and build real relationships with people at a one-on-one level AND at a scaled level across entire teams. They can’t leave people behind – they must be authentic, connected and engaged.” —Alex Badenoch, Telstra.

When we talk about leadership, it’s not only the people who are in managerial or executive roles who are leaders in our organisation. Many people are in informal positions of leadership across Metro North, and I strongly encourage anyone interested in growing as a leader to consider our #NextCare Health Conference as part of your professional development.

Kind regards,

Jackie